| Description |
There are three forms of Tethered Oral Tissues (TOTs): buccal, labial and lingual. Lingual TOTs is most commonly known as “tongue-tie” or “ankyloglossia”. The Mayo clinic in 2016 indicated that tongue-tie can affect the way a child eats, speaks and swallows, and can interfere with breast-feeding.
There is increased interest in TOTs in the fields of lactation, speech pathology, oral surgery, orofacial myology and otolaryngology stemming from current research linking sleep apnea to a short lingual frenulum, in addition to the increased awareness of the importance of breast feeding. With this topic comes some controversy, and speech pathologists are often left confused in their own role of diagnosing and treating TOTs.
This course explores the functional assessment of TOTs and reviews current well-respected assessment tools, including the Merkel-Walsh & Overland TOTs Protocol, which looks at structure, oral motor function, pre-feeding, feeding and speech. Participants will learn to use this tool to identify the possible need for a TOTs referral, and the functional impact this diagnosis may have on the oral motor and oral placement skills for breast, bottle, cup, straw and solid feedings in addition to speech sound production. Videos and live practicums with attendee participation will provide therapeutic intervention tasks that participants can implement with their clients immediately. The importance of pre and post-surgical therapy will be discussed, and surgical techniques will be explored so that therapists may have a better understanding of the current research across disciplines.
Target Audience: This course is intended for: Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologists, IBCLCs, dentists, surgeons, ENTs, occupational therapists, and RDHs.
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